


Springtime of Youth

by rironomind



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dating, Developing Relationship, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Sloppy Makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 09:23:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9541379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rironomind/pseuds/rironomind
Summary: Or Tongue Tied and Waiting (So Much for Fake Dating)Suga and Daichi are going out, or so everyone and Daichi thinks. Is it possible to be so perceptive, you're not perceptive at all?





	

**Author's Note:**

> For @jesrever on tumblr
> 
> I hope this is as sappy and awkward as you had imagined.

There’s a popular saying called the “springtime of youth”. The idea was for the young to seize life, to admire the first blossoms, and know that they were as young and beautiful and in love as they were. 

On spring mornings, the breeze was cool and fresh, full of promises where the sun would always shine gently. Carried upon the breeze were cherry blossom petals, drifting from trees, flushed as pink as the girls and boys they fell upon, the edges of their uniforms fluttering as they made their way to school. 

It was on such a spring morning that Sugawara Koushi received his first confession. 

As a member of the volleyball club, he needed to arrive early for practise. So he was up before the sun, quietly reviewing his notes in class before the other students had even gotten up.  

His secret admirer knew this, and as such, chose this specific moment, when they knew he would be alone, to confess to him. They found him alone in his classroom, concentrating on some handwritten notes, and greeted him. 

He smiled in return, pleased to see them. They walked up to Sugawara and said, “I know, this may come as a surprise. But I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I feel like now would be a good time to say it. Sugawara Koushi, will you go out with me?” 

Sawamura Daichi clutched his bag strap nervously as he waited for a reply. For several long moments, Suga was silent. 

Then, he smiled.

 

\--

“Daichi you can’t be serious.” 

The morning sun stretched into the classroom, unsubtly eavesdropping on their conversation.

“I am! Serious, about dating you,” Daichi shifted nervously. He went on, “It’s spring, you know. Girls usually confess around this time so I thought...”

“Oh,” Suga said. “Right.” Then he nodded decisively, “Sure I’ll go out with you.”

Daichi gaped. “Really?” When Suga nodded again, Daichi fistpumped, “Yes! Oh man, what a relief, I thought my chest was going to burst.” 

Suga chuckled as he packed away his things. “You must have been really stressed out about this.”

“Yeah,” Daichi leaned against a nearby desk, clutching his chest. He let out a sigh of relief. “You have no idea, I have lain awake at night worrying. And it was so much easier than I thought!” 

“No problem at all,” Suga said. “Let’s go to practise?”

Daichi stopped cheering, “O-oh, yeah sure!”

Volleyball was a pretty intensive sport. It required a lot of concentration and planning. One needed to invest a lot of time and energy in order to balance sports and grades. Daichi was a top student, but he was also very popular. It was natural that people would come to confess, searching for a relationship. But as the captain of the volleyball team, it wouldn’t be feasible for him to accept it. 

He must’ve been troubled by this, Suga thought, chancing a glance at Daichi as they walked to the gym. To the point where he would ask me out to deter others. Daichi caught him looking and grinned, “It’s a good day, huh? Too bad volleyball’s an indoor sport.” 

“Huh? Uh, yeah,” Suga replied. He felt heat creeping down his neck and up his face. 

Oh. What?

 

\--

Dating Daichi was different to what he expected. They didn’t do anything especially different. They still walked to school together, had lunch together, did homework together and practised volleyball together until it was time to go home. They still texted each other at night and joked around with each other.

But sometimes, Daichi would grin at him, like they were sharing some kind of secret, and Suga would grin back. 

Because it was a secret. Not that they were dating. But that they weren’t really dating.

“Sugawara-san, what’s dating Daichi like?” Hinata asked, stretching out his legs and his words, “Hmmm?”

He and Daichi hadn’t made any formal announcements, but Daichi had mentioned it offhandedly, looking oddly happy, to Asahi when the team was present. That had drawn much interest and surprise from the team. One look from Daichi and Suga had discouraged nosy questions but Hinata was mostly harmless. It was Tsukishima one had to look out for, but he didn’t generally care about others’ business unless it affected his own. He seemed to keep to himself while the team was crowding around Daichi and Suga, looking thoughtful. Suga wondered if he knew they weren’t really dating. 

Asahi might’ve. He’d looked uncertain after he’d spoken to Suga. But by and large, everyone was convinced they were dating.

“Oh uh, the same.” Suga shrugged. He looked around the roof. It was mostly empty. People preferred to sit on the benches in the courtyard for lunch during spring. The school had a nice grove of cherry blossoms that made eating lunch outside a picturesque experience. Still, Suga preferred the rooftop. He liked the feeling of the wind, and the chill sobered him so he stayed fresh for classes and practise. For time to time, team members would wander up and join him and Daichi for lunch, to chat or to discuss practise. 

He was waiting for Daichi now, and Hinata had joined him, munching on his yakisoba bun.

“Why?” Suga asked. 

“Why what?” Hinata asked, noodles and bread flying from his mouth.

“Why do you want to know?”

Hinata hummed, cramming in another bite. “I just wanted to know what dating behaviour looked like but you guys...You two have been so nonchalant about it that Kageyama and I were beginning to wonder, but then you just showed up like DONNN and you’re just so much more open about it.”

Dating behaviour? Suga tried to make sense of it. Sometimes Hinata could say some pretty incomprehensible things. “We only just started dating this week.” 

“You did? Tanaka said it was since second year at least. Asahi said first year.” 

Distantly, he heard the door to the rooftop open. “They said what?”

But Hinata was no longer paying attention, his eyes were darting to the door. “Uhh, uhh, I gotta go.” He jumped up.

“Oi, Hinata, where are you?”

“Oh shit! Kageyama,” Hinata cursed. “I wasn’t here!” He told Suga, red dusting his cheeks. Ho, Suga thought. Then he was gone.

“Ah, Sugawara-san,” Kageyama greeted, running up to him. “Have you seen Hinata anywhere?” 

“Nope,” Suga said, cheerily. 

“Damn.” 

“Why are you looking for him?” 

“He uh,” Kageyama stammered. “We, that is. We’re working something out!” Then, he too was gone. 

“Sorry I took so long. There was a long queue.” Suga jumped at the sudden presence of Daichi sitting down. He held out a melon bun for Suga.

Dating behaviour, Suga thought. He took the proffered bun. Did they act like a couple? He didn’t know. They hadn’t been dating all that long. They technically _ weren’t  _ even dating. Maybe that explained why their behaviour was so natural it felt like breathing.

“It’s pretty noisy on the roof today, isn’t it?” Daichi asked.

“Well it is spring, after all.” 

As if in confirmation, a gust of wind rippled through the roof, and when it settled, Daichi’s hair was a mess. Suga reached out to fix it, almost like second nature. Then Daichi turned to him and smiled. 

There was a roaring in his ears even though the wind had long died down. What are you doing, Koushi? He asked himself. There’s no one around. Don’t touch his hair, that’s weird. You’re not really dating. 

He quickly touched his own hair, brushing off the gesture. Daichi didn’t question it. 

All through lunch, Suga kept thinking, you’re not really dating. 

This isn’t permanent. 

 

\--

After school, they walked to the gym together for practise. “Suga,” Daichi said. 

“Yeah?”

“Ah, er, n-nothing.”

“Oh.” 

A while later, he felt Daichi’s fingertips brush his and he instinctively shoved his hands into his pockets. It was almost comical how obviously Daichi deflated. Suga took pity on him and shoved up against him so their arms were touching. “Don’t go acting all mushy on me now, Daichi,” he said, grinning. 

Daichi laughed nervously. “Ahaha, yeah, I guess we are in school.”

Suga felt a pang of guilt. Wasn’t that the point? To send a clear signal to others that Daichi was taken? 

Taken. A word  _ that _ possessive surprised him. Daichi already had volleyball and school. Even if he didn’t, Suga thought, dating him was just like a favour from a friend or a teammate, not as his partner-

“Suga, you-”

“Daichi?” Suga looked up and was caught off guard by how close Daichi was, pressed up against his shoulder. They weren’t too different in terms of height but Daich still had a few cm over him. It was a little annoying, but it wasn’t bad, he thought. 

The sun was still high in the sky as students headed to their club activities. We should be there by now, Suga thought. Why did the walk to the gym feel so long? 

The sun peeked from behind Daichi’s head. His hair was still growing out from when the barber cut it too short. It was almost at an acceptable length. Long enough for the wind to throw it out of shape. “You know that mole of yours is really eye-catching,” Daichi grinned.

Suga smiled back, though it lacked confidence. “Yeah?” 

What about me? He thought. 

 

\--

They drifted toward each other after practise, wordlessly agreeing to walk home together. The birds were returning home to roost, their calls filled in the gaps in their conversation. Suga realised they were doing a silly little dance. Daichi would take one step towards him and he would take one step away. Still, he would find himself drifting closer to Daichi, who would begin to orient himself towards him and then Suga would take one step away. 1, 2, 3, turn, 2, 3.

“There’s no one around,” Daichi said. 

“Yeah, there really isn’t,” Suga said, stepping away. “Uh, hey do you want some ice cream?”

“Ice cream?”

“What?” Suga grinned. “My treat.”

They dropped by a convenience store for popsicles. As soon as Suga had it in his hands, he shivered. Now that the sun had disappeared behind the trees, the air was cooling quickly. Maybe it  _ was _ too cold to eat ice cream, Suga thought. But his face felt so flushed, he thought ice cream would help him keep cool. Daichi didn’t seem to mind.

Suga thoughtlessly chewed on his lemon popsicle.

“Hey can I try some of yours?” Daichi asked. He had gotten soda flavour which Suga didn’t really like. It was a weird blue and left an aftertaste that didn’t sit right with him. It was too sweet. 

“Sure, here,” Suga said, holding out the popsicle. Daichi took his wrist, and before he could object, wrapped his lips around the tip of the bar and broke off a piece. Suga flinched.

Daichi didn’t notice. He crunched it up in his mouth and then promptly clutched his head in pain, “Ack, brain freeze!” 

Suga laughed to cover up his reaction, “Serves you right.” He shouldn’t be having impure thoughts about Daichi. But he definitely had, when Daichi leaned down and-

“Lemon and soda actually make a good combination,” Daichi said, jolting Suga out of his thoughts. 

“Yeah right.” But when Suga stuck his popsicle back into his mouth, he could taste the faint sweetness of the soda mingling with the lemon. 

They’d finished their popsicles just as they reached the crossroads where they went separate ways. “Did you win?” Daichi asked. 

Suga checked his stick. “No, did you?” 

“Nope, guess we’ll have to get ice cream again some other time.”

“Just because it’s a marketing ploy, doesn’t mean we have to buy into it.”

“But it’s fun.” Before Suga could retort, Daichi leaned in until he was almost nose to nose. He was so close, Suga could see his reflection in Daichi’s eyes, feel the coldness of his breath from the popsicle and taste its sweetness.

He closed his eyes and ducked away, laughing nervously, “See you tomorrow, Daichi.”

“Oh, see y-”

He rushed home before Daichi finished his sentence. He could feel his heart leap up into his throat, stoppering it. It’s not real, he told himself over and over. How could it be real? 

The houses that rushed past him began to blur. He became aware that Daichi wasn’t all that bad at dating. He was caring and attentive to a fault, mindful of people’s feelings. He would make a good boyfriend to anyone. Sure he was busy with volleyball and school, but he’d have time to spare during lunch and after school. Surely anyone would be satisfied with that. 

He tried not to think about the implications of that, how the time they currently shared would disappear. 

 

\--

Things came to a head at the end of the week. They’d only been dating for a few days so that no one would pull the moves on their treasured team captain but it seemed for naught when Daichi discovered a love letter in his shoe locker. 

“What’s this, what’s this?” Suga asked, peering over Daichi’s shoulder. 

Daichi held it out to show him the small heart sticker, “A, a love letter.” 

“Ohh~,” Suga said coyly. “What’s it say?”

Daichi opened it and scanned the contents. Suga, reading over his shoulder, crowed, “The class president! You sure bagged yourself a cute one, Daichi! I guess she saw how hard you work and decided to go for it.”

“You think?” Daichi said. He folded it up and put it into his bag. No, Suga thought, surprising himself with the vehemence with which he felt it. Throw it. Toss it. “Shall we?” Daichi said, turning back to smile at him.

Suga thought about the letter. He couldn’t stop thinking about the letter. He’d seen the date and the time: “I’ll wait for you after practise.” It had read. He decided Daichi should go.

Daichi had lingered to talk to the coach after practise, so Suga waited for him in the locker room. By the time Daichi got back to change, everyone else had gone home. Suga sat silently on the bench under the window as Daichi changed. The black gakuran weighed heavy on his shoulder, his shirt sticking to his back from residue sweat. He must have spaced out because by the time he realised it, Daichi was stretching a hand towards him, “Ready to go?”

Suga didn’t move. He opened his mouth. “You know,” he said. “One’s springtime of youth shouldn’t be wasted.” It wasn’t quite accurate to say he wasn’t thinking. As the team’s setter, he was always thinking. Playing volleyball did that to you. But when he thought, he didn’t think in words, he thought in game plan. In a series of shapes and diagrams and arrows.

If X happens then W, Y and Z might happen and if B and C factor in, then A but since F exists then E will definitely happen. He didn’t know what he was saying, especially not in that moment when he felt like he was on the court, his heart is racing and his shirt sticking to his back. But he had never felt colder. “Love can hit you at any point. What’s the harm in going for it? Right?” 

“Yeah,” Daichi smiled quizzically.

Eh? Suga thought, why does looking at Daichi’s smile hurt? 

The surrounding sounds, the chattering of students heading home after club activities, the school bell, the birds flying home, they all felt dampened, like he had been shoved underwater. He could taste lemon soda on his tongue. Not lemon and soda, but lemon soda. His gut fizzled. 

“I think you should go for it.” Suga said.

Daichi stops smiling. “Go for what?” 

“The love letter.”

“Oh that? Yeah I was going to turn her down.”

“I think you should accept it. Try dating her. It’s the class president, right? She’ll be a good girlfriend.”

Daichi’s face twisted. “Are you joking? Why should I do that?” He looked like he might laugh. “Suga this isn’t very funny.”

“She likes you, and, and maybe you might not like her now but if you try it, then-”

“Suga, stop it.” That was Daichi’s ‘Captain voice’. That firm, unshakeable, no nonsense tone that echoed in the hearts of their underclassmen and made even the most menacing opponents flinch. Suga was too numb to flinch.

He went on. Rambling and feeling an odd sensation build up behind his eyes. “Really, Daichi, this is a good chance. You should put yourself out there, who knows, you might even have fun.”

Daichi slammed his fist against a nearby locker. It made a loud metallic clang. This time, Suga did flinch. “What the fuck, Suga. Shut  _ up _ .” Suga didn’t know why Daichi looked like Suga was tearing his heart into pieces, or why his own heart felt like it was being ripped up. “I’m dating  _ you _ . What did you think we were doing?” 

“Wha, wasn’t this because you were afraid people would bother you?” Suga said, his voice cracking. “Volleyball takes up time you know, and there’s a lot of people who get upset when you don’t have time for them. But you  _ do _ have time, and you  _ should _ date. Well, I mean, maybe we won’t have lunch together anymore, or walk back together but that’s okay. It’s always good to have someone cheering for you from the bleachers.”

“Are you saying this to hurt me?” Daichi looked  _ wrecked _ . He looked so young, even though people often forgot he was only eighteen. “Wh- Did you, did you date me because you were being considerate of me? Were you making fun of me?”

Suga began to shake. His fists, his head, his body was a bundle of nervous energy he hadn’t known had been building but he felt like there was an earthquake inside him. “Daichi, think about your position. You’re the captain of a volleyball team. You deserve the best. You should be having  _ fun _ .”

“I thought I was having fun!” Daichi snapped. “With you! So this whole time, this whole time you thought we were what-?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. Don’t yell at me, fuck, I don’t know!” Suga shouted. He felt like his body was being torn apart. “How can you like me, I can’t believe that,” his voice trailed off miserably.

Daichi didn’t answer, but the air seemed to change.

“Don’t cry,” Daichi said, kindly, desperately. For a tall guy, he could be pretty timid. “I like you, Sugawara Koushi. Do you like me?”

“I-Fuck you, you unfair bastard,” Suga choked.

“How am I being unfair?!”

“Stop smiling,” Suga shoved at his legs, the only thing he could reach. “I can’t think when you smile.” He scrubbed at his face, his sleeve growing damp.

Daichi smiled even wider, “You know for a realllly perceptive setter, you’re kind of oblivious. I did confess directly to you.”

“Don’t say it! Shut up Sawamura, I’ll crush you,” Suga threatened, but he was grinning helplessly, tears still streaking down his cheeks. Embarrassingly enough, Daichi was a massive blindspot. “Now stop smiling, or turn away.”

Daichi obediently turned away. “Think now, please, Suga.” Suga could still  _ hear _ him smiling. “Will you go out with me? For real this time.”

He took a deep breath,“Yes, Sawamura Daichi, I like you, I’ll go out with you.”

“Yess,” Daichi whispered, fist pumping again. He turned back around, “ _ Now _ can we go back?”

Suga brought his hands against his face, his palms connected with his cheeks made a resounding slap. He stood, his cheeks still stinging. He must look a mess, but he didn’t care. “Yeah,” he said. Daichi looked impossibly struck. “Wait.”

He cupped the back of Daichi’s neck and pushed him down gently, using his other hand, he guided him by the cheek into a kiss. He tasted like sweat and Daichi, something indescribable but definitely sweet. Suga figured, he’d learn the taste soon enough.

 

 

* * *

 

  
Extra

There’s probably a point when dating someone that you stop fistpumping every time you get to makeout with your boyfriend. Sawamura Daichi hasn’t hit that point yet.

He likes it. Kissing is an excuse to touch. Daichi’s hands have a mind of their own, moving by their own accord, twining through feather soft hair, pressing a thumb to Suga’s cheekbone, and smoothing under the eye, pretending it’s not an excuse to touch his mole. Suga doesn’t mind. 

Sometimes, Daichi tries to cover the mole, to see if its absence takes away from the striking beauty of Suga’s face. He’s usually met with piercing grey eyes that seem to laugh at him and he can only dip his head back down, kissing Suga to hide his embarrassment.

Suga’s lips are thin and usually chapped, his breath shallow and dry. Suga tastes sharp. A little bit like biting the bullet, a little bit like jumping into a chlorine pool. A little bit like lemons. If he kisses him long and hard enough, sometimes Suga will let slip a moan. It won’t be very loud, but Daichi will hear it in his throat and he’ll think about it for the rest of the day until he gets Suga to do it again. 

“Daichi,” Suga whispers against his lips. His voice is like doors closing and opening, sliding doors, swing doors. It’s weird, Daichi thinks. It’s so functional yet so inviting. “Daichi. Wait.” 

“Mmmhm, I am,” Daichi says, leaning in to kiss him again. 

“Sawamura Daichi!” Suga orders. 

Daichi springs back through force of habit. “Yes!” 

“Lunch is over, let’s go back to class.” As if on cue, the lunch bell rings.

Daichi doesn’t deflate. He  _ doesn’t _ . He does sigh though. He’s only human.

Suga smiles, “We’ll continue this later.” Then, after a moment, “Really, Daichi, you don’t have to fistpump  _ every _ time.” 

Daichi hasn’t reached that point yet.


End file.
